Vijay Shankar Made 67 and Nine Team-Mates Made 79: Glasgow Cosmic Beat Dublin Guardians by Six Wickets

Being bowled out inside your twenty overs is one thing. Being bowled out with three balls left is something else — it means you got almost all the way, and then gave away the last wicket for nothing when simply blocking would have earned you three more deliveries of somebody else's bowling. The Dublin Guardians managed exactly that, 159 all out in 19.3, and it is the neatest possible summary of a season in which they have won one match out of eight.

Vijay Shankar deserved better. His 67 from 43 was the innings of the evening and it ended with nine team-mates having contributed 79 between them.

Dublin were 60 for 3 in the eighth when Shankar arrived at a rate of scoring that needed rescuing and a scoreboard that needed building. He did both — 67 from 43 with six fours and three sixes, including a 52-run stand in 36 balls with Muhammad Waseem that was the only substantial partnership of the innings.

Around him, it fell apart in the way it has been falling apart for the Guardians all tournament. James Vince 10, Harry Tector 12, Ben Calitz 2, Chris Greaves 4, Ravichandran Ashwin 1, Craig Young 0. Ali Khan came back for the death overs and took 4 for 22 from 3.3, Tymal Mills took 3 for 24, and the last six Dublin wickets fell for 27 runs.

One hundred and fifty-nine was still a total worth defending at Malahide. It was not a total worth defending with this bowling attack against Glasgow's top five.

Glasgow lost Jason Roy for 4 and then never really looked troubled. Finn Allen made 30 from 27, Moises Henriques 25 from 23, and the two of them added 42 in 33 to steady it. Ashwin was excellent — four overs for 17, his offbreaks gripping just enough in the evening air — and if Dublin had a second bowler of that economy the match might have turned.

They did not. George Dockrell's four overs went for 45. And once Munsey and Liam Livingstone got together, 68 came from 38 balls and the required rate collapsed. Livingstone hit two sixes in 29 from 17 before falling; Munsey went to his fifty with the four sixes that decided the match, then let Richie Berrington — three fours from six balls — put the finish on it.

A 6:45pm start at Malahide in September means the second innings is played in fading light and cooling air, and on this evidence it helped rather than hindered the chasing side: the ball skidded on nicely and the spinners got less out of the surface than they had in the afternoon fixture. Two matches at this ground on the same day produced almost identical chases — 162 for 3 and 162 for 4, both with balls to spare. Batting second at The Village has been the right call all week.

Munsey is 33 and has been doing this for Scotland for a decade, largely in front of crowds that fit into a stand. His method has not changed: stand still, wait for width or length, and hit through the line with a swing that starts somewhere behind his shoulder blades. Four sixes in 33 balls, an unbeaten fifty, and a chase closed with seven deliveries spare.

What was most impressive was the tempo control. He was 18 from 18 at one stage, with Livingstone attacking at the other end, and showed no interest in competing with him. When Livingstone fell, Munsey took over. Two batters, one plan, no ego — which is a harder thing to find in this format than a clean striker.

This match didn't have a CricIntel preview — we'll have full analysis for the next encounter.

Glasgow move to 4 points from eight matches and off the bottom, with Dublin now last on 2 from eight. Neither side is going to trouble the top of this table — Edinburgh Castle Rockers remain unbeaten on 13 from seven — but there is a difference between a season that ends and a season that curdles, and Cosmic have just given themselves a reason to turn up.

For the Guardians, the numbers are stark: one win in eight, and a batting order containing James Vince, Harry Tector, David Willey and Muhammad Waseem that has made 162 for 8 and 159 all out in its last two attempts at a full twenty overs. Vijay Shankar is carrying them. He should not have to.